Snaps

The Cousins...it's getting harder to get a good picture :)

clutching her favorite bear, bouncing along to Yo Gabba Gabba

Shenanigans at Grandma and Grandpa's

Bear Ears

<3 Katie

My Creative Family

Artsy Fartsy runs in the genes! Here are some pictures of my dad's pottery and my "little" brother's cutting boards.

<3 Katie

Twelve Dancing Princesses

Playtime means being everywhere at once, nowadays! These are a few pictures of that madness...including the napkins I'm using as inspiration for her birthday (she got ahold of one and tried to take off with it) and one of my absolute favorite books as a child. I always loved the beautiful pictures, a little dark and very intricate...a major boost to my already rampant imagination and I hope to share all manner of imaginative adventures, literary and otherwise, with my smart-as-a-whip, energetic little(though increasingly growing) bundle of so, SO much joy.

<3 Katie

1st Birthday Planning

I can hardly believe that in March it will be a year since i popped her out of me! She's already huge, and all over the place and so crazy smart! It's hard to remember how tiny and quiet she used to be (and lighter and portable) and even harder to imagine how much bigger and smarter she's going to get very soon. Walking is fast approaching, as is talking (she already seems to understand and mimic a lot) which are both exciting and terrifying at the same time.

If you have seen my pinterest, then you probably are aware of my party planning obsession. I have yet to actually, totally plan a party (besides my own wedding), but I'm just itching to. Much like my wedding, Adeline's first birthday (and, I'm sure, subsequent birthdays) I plan on crafting from scratch. I've even begun some of the many, grand projects I have planned. Coming up with the theme was the hardest bit, not wanting to "waste" a fun kid theme on a baby who won't remember but still wanting it to be wonderful and imaginative and exciting for everyone else attending. As children, my brothers and I had a lot of memorable parties that my parents pulled off (I have awesome parents, just FYI), most notably (to me) my "cowboys and indians" party in the park with a giant teepee and my youngest brother's pirate party for which my father screen-printed pirate flags for each individual child. Parties like that were such a quintessential part of my childhood... and I want that for my children! So I started out thinking I'd do a "You are my Sunshine" theme, but now that seems entirely too simplistic for my daughter's personality and I didn't want to limit it too much. I also toyed with maybe doing "Breakfast at Tiffany's" or  "On the Good Ship Lollipop", but those ideas didn't make it very far. So it morphed into a woodsy/bear/forest animals theme....I want to somehow fuse together woodgrain, black and white gingham, gold, and keep it colorful at the same time. I have these really cute hungry bear napkins that I found in Mackinaw City, of all places, that gave me the idea. I have four cakestands (and obviously another obsession) in various sizes and heights, as well as some gold chargers I plan on using as food trays, one even has a woodgrain pattern. There's a gold-painted faux-wood mirror, that will either be a tray or just decor, some gold tissue paper fringe tassels ready and waiting, and a giant cardboard 'A', all elements that will be put to some use. I also have my brother enlisted to create a fun little A-frame tent for the little ones to play in and I've been working on custom coloring sheets as well. All in all, the pieces are falling into place.

<3 Katie

Munchie & Mama on a Monday

Yelling contests, snuggles, sipping tea from a giant "mug"(actually a chili bowl with handle made for me by my papa) while she snores nearby...have I mentioned recently how much I love being a mommy?

<3 Katie

Happy New Year!

At first I felt as though, after seeing the barrage of facebook posts, making a definitive resolution would be a bit...what's the word I'm looking for? Overkill? Cliche? I'll just go with silly... especially seeing that I rarely have in the past. Really, though, setting goals is good (or so I've read). So here are a few of mine for 2013: obviously I'm going to continue being the best mother I can be, prayerfully and optimistically, I plan on finishing all of my little projects in the works (I already knocked out a few just today!) and I hope to be involved in many more creative endeavors in the coming year, and, finally, I'm making a goal to continue to pursue Christ more faithfully, and, particularly, I would like to keep praying more specifically (This was a bit of an 'AHA' moment, and so far my more 'specified' prayers have been answered very obviously, a topic I may or may not go into more detail about in the future). 

So, no weight loss/exercise/adventurous resolutions for this little mama...but, anyway, on the topic of crafty goals completed, today I worked diligently(for a few hours anyway) on finishing a few projects for Adeline's nursery...mainly arranging things and completing a found-object art piece for her room. All of this was, of course, made easier by Matt having the day off. Here are a few shots of the room in-progress.  

I suppose I should make a goal to finish her room before she is really able to make use of it, huh? 

All in all, this has been the very best year of my life! Getting to be a mommy is the greatest job in the world! I can't wait to celebrate her first birthday in March! Exclamation point! :)

A very happy new year to everyone!

<3 Katie

 

Joyeux Noel - Christmas 2012

As snow falls softly outside our second floor apartment's living room window, I'm reflecting on all of the Christmas-y events of the past couple weeks.

We went to several Christmas parties with some great people, Adeline and I went to the Rotary Lights downtown with some of my favorite people, and lots of shopping for presents and crafting occurred.

On Christmas Eve, our church had two services that, this year, I happened to be very involved in: planning and on the worship team. Like most Sunday services, Adeline made it to the sermon or prayer during both services, hyped up on the music and energy from the special lighting, and decided, since it was quiet, it was now time to start talking up a storm! Luckily the hubby was there to take her to play in the nursery, since this time I was a bit preoccupied with everything else. Our theme for Christmas Eve was "Light and Love", the theme song being "Light of the Stable". It was such a blessing to see everything fall together the way it did and to be a part of it! It definitely was a great reminder of "the reason for the season"(as corny as that may sound). Especially after all of the recent tragic events around the nation, it was wonderful to hear about our hope for the future and God's unending love... this world with all of it's grievances and pain is not all there is!

Adeline's first Christmas certainly didn't disappoint! We started out the day driving to Matt's parent's house, and got to watch all of the babies (and older kids, of course) open their presents! Addie got plenty of new toys and Matt got Batman footy pajamas. After that we had Christmas #2 at Matt's grandparent's house, with more food and presents. Adeline was pretty tired and cranky by the time we got home.

Christmas #3(with my family) was yesterday. Adeline and I went over early in the day to bake cookies with my brothers, parents, and Emily (Michael's girlfriend, you may remember from Thanksgiving)...and boy, did we make a lot of cookies! Any broken ones (and, Honestly, some unbroken) were turned into zombies once decorated. Matt joined us after work for presents, Fievel Goes West(one of my gifts and a quintessential movie of my childhood), a game of Dominion (Matt and my gift), and Bezzerwizzer (a family fav).

Lots of memories made and photos taken with my favorite gift: a gorgeous and fancy Nikon Coolpix P510 (from Matt)! Now I'm already looking forward to this next year and especially Adeline's first birthday! Already in planning mode thanks to Pinterest :)

I hope you all had a lovely holiday, as well! And, Happy New Year!

<3 Katie